He can bench press 202.5kg but Wallaby 1000 Massimo De Lutiis couldn’t hold back the emotion when Les Kiss told him he was in his Test team.
“I was over at the moon when Les told me,” the giant prop told Stan Sport.
Massimo De Lutiis talks to Stan Sport. Stan
“I started tearing up a bit and started crying in his lap, which is pretty embarrassing. But just so stoked. 1000 is awesome, but just to be a Wallaby in general is crazy to me. It’s a dream come true.”
De Lutiis trotted onto the field in Townsville with the Wallabies controlling proceedings in the 56-17 win against Japan on Saturday afternoon.
A big reason for that was Taniela Tupou’s first half double, which gave Australia a 21-17 lead at the break.
His replacement at tighthead prop, De Lutiis, thought he may as well get in on the act on a day when the forwards scored all eight of the Wallabies’ tries, of which the front-row club incredibly contributed six.
“I was just over the moon, couldn’t believe it. First try ever, so pretty good debut try,” the 22-year-old said.
Until Saturday, De Lutiis was best known for his record-breaking feats in the Queensland Reds’ Ballymore gym.
“It might change a few questions,” he quipped.
“Really happy, really happy.”
In a classy touch, Rugby Australia arranged for the family of Wallaby No.1, Patrick Carew, to be present for De Lutiis’ milestone moment.
Carew played his first Test against Great Britain in Sydney in 1899.
Anne Jensen, Carew’s granddaughter, posed with his cap and De Lutiis after the match.
Massimo De Lutiis with Anne Jensen, granddaughter of Patrick Carew (Wallaby no.1). Getty Images
Japan coach Eddie Jones could only doff his cap to Tupou, who is playing well after moving to Paris.
“He must have thought there was a free pizza every time he scored a try today,” Jones said.
“I’ll have to go and see him after the game, might take him a pizza in. They get pretty excited near the line.”
Wallabies captain and try-scorer Harry Wilson said the players were challenged by Kiss at halftime after having to come back from a try down in the opening 40 minutes, and they responded with “a lot more spark” in the second half.
“A team like Japan, if you’re not up for it, they’re really going to make you pay,” Wilson said.
De Lutiis’ injection into the game added some extra energy.
“It’s really special – 1000 Wallabies, incredible,” Wilson told Stan Sport.
Harry Wilson of the Wallabies scores a try. Getty Images
“Someone like Massimo, he’s a proud Australian. Really special moment.”
Three late tries helped the Wallabies turn a 21-17 halftime lead into a 39-point victory, giving the Australians a three-match winning streak for the first time since 2024.
The Wallabies beat Italy last month in the Nations Championship in Joe Schmidt’s last match as coach and then had a 35-32 win over Japan in Osaka last weekend in Kiss’s first.
Japan captain Warner Dearns said his lineup did everything possible to match it with the bigger Australian pack in the first half.
“Really hard battle,” he said.
“We knew that the Wallabies were going to come out hard. We put a real emphasis on trying to move them around and play fast rugby. We did it well in the first half.”
Halves Naoto Saito and Ryunosuke Ito supplied quick ball and regularly exposed holes in Australia’s defence in the first 35 minutes.
Taniela Tupou of the Wallabies is tackled by Warner Dearns of Japan. Getty Images
The Australians twice took an early lead via tries from Josh Nasser and Tupou, but Japan rallied both times.
Giant lock Harry Hockings, who played 28 games for the Queensland Reds, charged down a poor attempted exit from Ryan Lonergan at the base of a ruck and dived on the ball in-goal, and Saito took a quick penalty tap and darted over from close range, catching the defence unaware.
Japan took the lead in the 33rd minute via Australian-born Dylan Riley, who beat two tackles and reached over for a try, but the Australians hit back just before the break, again using the platform of a lineout and moving the ball up to the tryline where Tupou crashed over. – with AP